Who Makes the Economic Pledges of Lee and Yoon?

[Asia Economy Reporters Hyunju Lee and Jinyoung Jeon] The economic pledges of Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, are supported by "Policies Changing the World 2022 (Sebajeong 2022)," which includes the names of over 1,800 professors and experts. Lee’s camp, which champions transformative fair growth, is led by centrist economists who design key pledges such as the recovery of development gains and the basic series. The important role is held by Professor Ha Joon-kyung of Hanyang University’s Department of Economics. Having participated in designing Lee’s primary pledge of "transformative fair growth," he also serves as the chairman of the "Transformative Fair Growth Committee" within the campaign’s election committee. Professor Ha is classified as a centrist scholar who emphasizes an active fiscal role and has even referred to himself as a "Keynesian" in media interviews. He was also a member of the Moon Jae-in administration’s National Economic Advisory Council, which suggests that the policies are unlikely to be formulated in a way that completely contradicts the Moon administration’s economic policies.

The brain behind real estate policy is Professor Lee Sang-kyung of Gachon University, who serves as the chairman of the Real Estate Reform Committee in the campaign. He has conducted research on the public recovery of real estate development gains and is supporting Lee’s efforts to revise the development gains recovery law based on this research. Another key member is Lee Han-joo, former director of the Gyeonggi Research Institute, who designed the "basic series" including basic income and basic housing. He has served as chairman of the Economic Subcommittee 1 of the National Policy Planning Advisory Committee and chairman of the National Growth Subcommittee of the Presidential Policy Planning Committee. However, due to controversies over real estate speculation and illicit gift tax evasion, he is unlikely to take a frontline role such as committee chairman. Nevertheless, he supports Lee by participating in formats such as hosting forums within Sebajeong 2022.

Lee Jae-myung Camp’s Development Gains Recovery and More
Supported by Over 1,800 Professors and Experts
‘Sebajeong 2022’ Backs Policies
Professor Ha Joon-kyung Designed Transformative Fair Growth
Former Gyeonggi Research Institute Director Lee Han-joo
Key Figure in Designing Basic Series

Yoon Seok-youl Camp Filled with Anti-Moon Experts
Former Secretary-General Lee Seok-jun Oversees
Professor Kim So-young, Critical of Cash Welfare and Government Jobs
Professor Kim Kyung-hwan of Sogang University
Leads Real Estate Policy Including Comprehensive Real Estate Tax Review

The economic experts in Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, camp are filled with those holding an "anti-Moon Jae-in" stance. It is known that policy advisory experts gathered by subcommittee even before the camp was formed to discuss policy tasks. Former Secretary-General Lee Seok-jun oversees the policy team, while Professor Kim So-young of Seoul National University’s Department of Economics, who serves as the economic secretary (overall) of the policy advisory group, leads the economic subcommittee. Emphasizing a private-led free market economy, the camp places a strong focus on growth. Professor Kim has been a critic of the Moon administration’s "income-led growth" policy. She holds a critical view of cash welfare and government-created job policies and submitted a research report last year commissioned by the National Assembly’s Budget and Accounts Special Committee, which concluded that the Moon administration’s Korean New Deal policy led to a contraction in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

The real estate policy of Yoon’s camp is led by Professor Kim Kyung-hwan of Sogang University’s Department of Economics, who previously served as the first vice minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The camp’s representative real estate policies include a comprehensive review of the comprehensive real estate tax, easing property tax for single-homeowners, reducing capital gains tax rates for multiple homeowners, and relaxing the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio to 80% for first-time homebuyers. Since suppressing demand has led to a phenomenon of "frozen listings," which in turn has supported rising housing prices, the plan is to loosen tax policies to normalize the market. The camp has also launched a separate "Livelihood Measures Committee" to prepare measures for self-employed and small business owners struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lee Jung-man, president of the Korea Federation of Skilled Workers, and Hwang Han-ung, former reporter for Maeil Business Newspaper, are serving as standing chairman and general director, respectively.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.